AU2023203788B1

AU2023203788B1 - An Electrical Distribution Enclosure

Info

Publication number: AU2023203788B1
Application number: AU2023203788A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Bruce Wilson
Original assignee: Invoc Ltd
Current assignee: Invoc Ltd
Priority date: 2023-06-16
Filing date: 2023-06-16
Publication date: 2024-05-02
Anticipated expiration: 2043-06-16

Abstract

The invention is an electrical distribution enclosure (1), comprising a casing (2) having an opening (4) in a medial upper portion thereof. There is first component rail (6) inside the casing vertically disposed to one side of the opening (4). There is also a second component rail (7) inside the casing vertically disposed to an opposite side of the opening (4). An upper row of busbars (8) extends beneath the component rails, and a lower row of busbars (9), (10) extends beneath the upper row. A vertical wire pathway (11) extends between the component rails (6), (7), and a horizontal wire pathway (12) extends between the upper and lower busbar rows.

Description

TITLE

An Electrical Distribution Enclosure.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an electrical distribution enclosure, for example a distribution board for use in small commercial, industrial, community or domestic applications.

BACKGROUND

It is known to use distribution enclosures, often called distribution boards, in buildings for electrical circuits for power outlets, fixed appliances, lighting or other loads. These subsidiary circuits are typically protected by circuit breakers (MCB's), residual current devices (RCD's) or combination MCB/RCD units (RCBO's) as well as other protective devices at the board. The term RCD is used generically in this document and includes such devices when they incorporate overcurrent protection (RCBO's) etc. A problem with distribution enclosures is that they can be difficult or inconvenient to work on, especially when used with a large number of electrical cables in limited space.

OBJECT

It is an object of a preferred embodiment of the invention to go at least some way towards addressing the above problem. However, it should be understood that the object of the invention per se is not so specific and is simply to provide a useful choice.

DEFINITIONS

The term "comprises" or "has", if and when used in this document in relation to a combination of features, should not be seen as excluding the option of additional features in the combination that are not mentioned.

Further, orientational terms such as vertical and horizontal are intended to allow for a functional amount of leeway. For example, they not limited to exactly vertical and exactly horizontal. The same applies to other orientational terms. When used, for ease of explanation these terms refer to the item of concern when its normal operational orientation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the invention there is an electrical distribution enclosure comprising: a) a casing; b) an opening in the medial upper portion of the casing; c) a first component rail inside the casing vertically disposed to one side of the opening and a second component rail inside the casing vertically disposed to an opposite side of the opening; d) an upper busbar row beneath the component rails; e) a lower busbar row beneath the upper busbar row; f) a vertical wire pathway extending between the component rails; and g) a horizontal wire pathway extending between the upper and lower busbar rows.

Preferably each component rail is adapted to engage with electrical components in a vertical array, for example, without limitation, one or more of an MCB, an RCD and an on/off switch.

Preferably the upper busbar row comprises one or more busbars and, if more than one, they may be spaced.

Preferably the lower busbar row comprises one or more busbars and, if more than one, they may be spaced.

Optionally the upper busbar row comprises one or more neutral busbars for connection of neutral wires.

Optionally the opening is size adjustable, for example with a closure that can be moved to expose more or less of the opening.

Optionally the distribution board is wired-up such that an incoming supply circuit cable enters the casing through the opening such that supply neutral, earth and phase wires thereof run generally vertically along the vertical wire pathway so that: * the supply neutral wire extends to connect to a neutral busbar of the lower busbarrow; * the supply earth wire connects to an earth busbar of the lower busbar row; and * the supply phase wire extends to and connects to an on/off switch engaged with one of the component rails.

Optionally the distribution enclosure is wired-up such that protected circuit cables exit the casing through the opening and such that wires thereof run generally vertically along the vertical wire pathway so that: * some protected circuit neutral wires connect to the neutral busbar of the upper or lower busbar rows; * some protected circuit earth wires connect to the earth busbar of the lower row; and * some protected circuit phase wires connect to components engaged with the first and/or second component rails.

Optionally wires that connect to the upper busbar row approach that row from below it.

Optionally wires that connect to the lower busbar row approach that row from above it.

Optionally at least the supply phase wire extends laterally along the horizontal wire pathway.

Optionally at least some of the protected circuit earth wires extend laterally along the horizontal wire pathway.

Optionally at least some of the protected circuit neutral wires extend laterally along the horizontal wire pathway.

Preferably substantially all cabling coming into the distribution enclosure enters it by way of the opening.

Preferably the opening is substantially centred along the top of the distribution enclosure.

Optionally the distribution enclosure comprises an electricity consumption meter, for example below the lowermost row of busbars.

Optionally the distribution enclosure incorporates an escutcheon panel / cover with or without doors arranged for safety to restrict access to casing.

Optionally the width of the vertical wire pathway (its side to side dimension) is 50-250 mm, or 100-200 mm, or 120 - 180 mm, or about 150 mm.

Optionally the width of the horizontal wire pathway (its top to bottom dimension) is 50 100 mm, or 65-85 mm, or about 70 mm.

DRAWINGS

Some preferred embodiments will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying photographs, of which

Figure 1A is an isometric view of an electrical distribution enclosure with its front escutcheon cover (including doors) detached from its casing;

Figure 1B is an isometric view of the enclosure when the front cover has been fitted to the casing;

Figure 2 illustrates the inside of the enclosure when fitted with electrical components and partially wired-up with a first level or wiring; and

Figure 3 further illustrates the inside of the enclosure also showing the electrical components, when wired-up with a second level of wiring (the first level is not shown in the drawing for better clarity).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to Figures 1A & 1B, the electrical distribution enclosure (1) comprises a casing (2) with its front cover (3) removed. There is an opening (4) in the top middle of the casing, and this has a sliding door (5) that can be adjustably closed to a greater or lesser degree to expose more or less of the opening. In other words, the effective size of the opening is adjustable.

When the distribution enclosure is in use it may for example be fastened to internal framing in the wall of a building so that it is substantially recessed with its front face more-or-less flush with the wall, or may be surface mounted onto a wall such that the rear of the enclosure is in contact with a wall and the front of the enclosure is in front of the wall. The cover (3) can be easily applied to close off the casing, and subsequently opened or removed to enable an electrician to work inside the casing.

Referring to Figure 1A, the enclosure also incorporates a pair of vertically extending component rails (6), (7), one either side of the opening (4). These may for example be DIN rails.

Beneath each component rail (6), (7) is a horizontal first busbar row. In this example the row comprises four spaced neutral-busbars (8), but the number is not critical. In other embodiments there may be fewer (optionally only one) and in others there may be more.

Beneath the first busbar row is a horizontal second busbar row. In this example the second row comprises two spaced busbars, one being an earth-busbar (9) and the other being a neutral bus-bar (10). In some embodiments there may be fewer (optionally only one), and in some embodiments more, busbars in this row.

The distribution encosure is such that it has a vertical wire pathway (11) between the component rails (6), (7) and a horizontal wire pathway (12) between the first and second busbarrows.

Referring to Figure 2, when the distribution enclosure is in use electrical components, for example MCB's (13), RCD's (14) and an on/off switch (15) engage and are held in place in a vertical array on each component rail (6), (7). While these are examples of common components, in some embodiments one or more of these may be substituted or supplemented with other components, for example surge protectors, timers, etc.

Also, when the distribution enclosure is in use, electrical supply cabling (16) feeds into the casing through the opening (4) and the wires thereof extend vertically along the vertical cable pathway (11). The supply earth wire (17) connects to the earth-busbar (9) and the supply neutral-wire (18) connects to the neutral-busbar (10) of the second (lower) busbar row. The supply phase wire (19) connects with the on/off switch (15).

Still with Figure 2, neutral (black) and phase (red) circuit wires (20), (21) are used to connect various of the electrical components in the manner needed or desired for wiring up the building at hand. As will be appreciated, the arrangement of these shown in Figure 2 is but one optional way of doing this.

Referring to Figure 3, when the distribution board is in use, protected circuit cables (22) are also fed into the casing through the opening (4) and the wires of these run along the vertical wire pathway (11), and at least some then run sideways along the horizontal wire pathway (12). The wiring of Figure 2 remains in place but has been omitted from Figure 3 for clarity and ease of explanation.

As also shown in Figure 3, earth wires (23) of the protected circuit cables connect to the earth busbar (9), and neutral wires (24) of the protected circuit cables connect to the neutral busbars (8) and (10) of one or both busbar rows. Phase wires (25) of the protected circuit wires may connect to various of the electrical components on the component rails (6), (7). The pattern of wiring shown in Figure 3 is exemplary only, and in other embodiments it may be appropriately modified for the job at hand.

It will be appreciated that the use of the vertical and horizontal wire pathways (11), (12) and the centrally located opening (4), means that the distribution board enables electrical workers to work with at least most of the wires inside the enclosure with space for reasonable access to terminations. Some wires may still run along the outermost sides of the rails (6), (7) but that does not detract from the significant advantage of a substantial amount of the wiring running along one or both of the wire pathways (11), (12). In the example show, all the supply and protected circuit cabling enters the board centrally from the top. The door (5) at the opening can be slid to expose more or less of the opening as needed to accommodate these cables.

Because substantially all the cabling entering the enclosure comes through the same opening (4), the bottom of the enclosure can be rotated or swivelled after cabling is installed, if need be, eg to gain access to the space behind the enclosure, without disconnecting any cables

In any embodiment of the enclosure disclosed herein, its dimensions may comprise any one or more of the following

Feature Dimension (mm)

Enclosure height at rear of casing (2) 180 - 1,200 mm

Enclosure width at rear of casing (2) 330 - 610 mm

Enclosure depth 72 - 250 mm

Length of vertical wire pathway 80 - 1,100 mm (ie top-to-bottom dimension)

Width of vertical wire pathway 50 - 250 mm (ie side-to-side dimension)

Depth of vertical wire pathway 70 - 250 mm (ie front-to-back dimension)

Length of horizontal wire pathway 300 - 610 mm (ie side-to-side dimension)

Width of horizontal wire pathway 50 - 100 mm (ie top-to-bottom dimension)

Depth of horizontal wire pathway 70 - 250 mm (ie front-to-back dimension)

Opening depth 10 - 150 mm (ie front-to-back dimension)

Opening width 50 - 200 mm (ie side-to-side dimension)

It should be understood that for ease of explanation Figures 2 and 3 show neutral wires in black, phase wires in red and earth wires in green. While these are common colours for these wires in some parts of the world, they may have different colours in others.

If desired the distribution enclosure of any embodiment disclosed herein can be used in an inverted disposition, although this is not preferred.

While some forms of the invention have been described by way of example, it should be appreciated that modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

In terms of disclosure, this document envisages and hereby posits any feature mentioned herein in combination with itself or any other feature or features mentioned herein, even if the combination is not claimed.

Claims

1. An electrical distribution enclosure, comprising: a) a casing; b) an opening in the medial upper portion of the casing; c) a first component rail inside the casing vertically disposed to one side of the opening and a second component rail inside the casing vertically disposed to an opposite side of the opening; d) an upper busbar row beneath the component rails; e) a lower busbar row beneath the upper busbar row; f) a vertical wire pathway extending between the component rails; and g) a horizontal wire pathway extending between the upper and lower busbar rows.

2. An electrical distribution enclosure according to claim 1, wherein each component rail is adapted to engage with electrical components in a vertical array, for example, without limitation, one or more of an MCB, an RCD and an on/off switch.

3. An electrical distribution enclosure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the upper busbar row comprises one or more busbars and, if more than one, they may be spaced.

4. An electrical distribution enclosure according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the lower busbar row comprises one or more busbars and, if more than one, they may be spaced.

5. An electrical distribution enclosure according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the upper busbar row comprises one or more neutral busbars for connection of neutral wires.

6. An electrical distribution enclosure according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the opening is size adjustable.

7. An electrical distribution enclosure according to any one of the preceding claims, wired-up such that an incoming supply circuit cable enters the casing through the opening such that supply neutral, earth and phase wires thereof run generally vertically along the vertical wire pathway so that: * the supply neutral wire extends to connect to a neutral busbar of the lower busbar row; * the supply earth wire connects to an earth busbar of the lower busbar row; and * the supply phase wire extends to and connects to an on/off switch engaged with one of the component rails.

8. An electrical distribution enclosure according to any one of the preceding claims, wired-up such that protected circuit cables exit the casing through the opening and such that wires thereof run generally vertically along the vertical wire pathway so that: * some protected circuit neutral wires connect to the neutral busbar of the upper or lower busbar rows; * some protected circuit earth wires connect to the earth busbar of the lower row; and * some protected circuit phase wires connect to components engaged with the first and/or second component rails.

9. An electrical distribution enclosure according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein wires connect to the upper busbar row from below it.

10. An electrical distribution enclosure according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein wires connect to the lower busbar row from above it.

11. An electrical distribution enclosure according to claim 7, wherein at least the supply phase wire extends laterally along the horizontal wire pathway.

12. An electrical distribution enclosure according to claim 8, wherein at least some of the protected circuit earth wires extend laterally along the horizontal wire pathway.

13. An electrical distribution enclosure according to claim 8 or 12, wherein at least some of the protected circuit neutral wires extend laterally along the horizontal wire pathway.

14. An electrical distribution enclosure according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein substantially all cabling coming into the distribution enclosure enters it by way of the opening.

15. An electrical distribution enclosure according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the opening is substantially centred along the top of the distribution enclosure.

16. An electrical distribution enclosure according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising an electricity consumption meter, for example below the lowermost row of busbars.

17. An electrical distribution enclosure according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising an escutcheon panel / cover with or without doors arranged for safety to restrict access to casing.

18. An electrical distribution enclosure according to claim 1, wherein the width of the vertical wire pathway (its side to side dimension) is 50-250 mm, or 100-200 mm, or 120 - 180 mm, or about 150 mm.

19. An electrical distribution enclosure according to claim 1 or 18, wherein the width of the horizontal wire pathway (its top to bottom dimension) is 50-100 mm, or 65-85 mm, or about 70 mm.